Penske Automotive net income rises 23%

Apr. 29, 2013

Roger Penske / JARRAD HENDERSON/Detroit Free Press

Written by

Associated Press

Penske Automotive Group said today that its first-quarter net income rose 23%, helped by higher U.S. demand for vehicles.

The Bloomfield Hills-based auto retailer led by Roger Penske posted net income attributable to common shareholders of $57.7 million, or 64 cents per share, up from $46.8 million, or 52 cents per share, in the same quarter of 2012.

Excluding discontinued operations, the company earned 63 cents per share for the recent quarter.

Revenue rose 7.7% to $3.4 billion from $3.16 billion.

Analysts, on average, expected earnings of 62 cents per share on $3.48 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.

The company said its revenue at dealerships open at least a year increased 7.4%. The metric is a key measure of a retailerís health, because it excludes revenue at dealerships that recently opened or closed.

Total retail unit sales increased 9.9%, or 6.8% on a same-store basis, the company said.

U.S. sales increased 12.7%, while international sales rose 4.5%. Retail sales of new vehicles rose 9.7%, while sales of used vehicles increased 10.2%.